What to watch
The Sweet Makers at Christmas
BBC TWO, 9.00PM
Following their enjoyable three-part series earlier this year, BBC Two’s Sweet Makers return for this one-off Christmas special looking at changing treats from Georgian times to the Twenties. As before, the show is a lovely mix of baking and interesting social history with Emma Dabiri and Dr Annie Gray, who fill us in on how each era viewed Christmas and how confectionery changes over time.
The show’s highlight comes during the Victorian Era, also known as the moment when Christmas as we know it was invented, as chocolatiers Paul A Young and Diane Short, bespoke cake decorator Cynthia Stroud and sweet consultant Andy Baxendale recreate a Boar’s Head cake. “That’s the most bonkers thing we’ve ever made,” notes Young, looking at the finished result, which is rich in chocolate, beautifully decorated and featuring unnervingly glazed eyes. He’s right but it also looks fabulous, as do the intricate Twelfth Cakes, a speciality in Georgian times. The Twenties brings with it the wonderful news that before Terry’s invented the chocolate orange they introduced the chocolate apple to the world, before looking to the future and the invention of Lord Mackintosh’s Quality Street. Sarah Hughes